That Morning by Ted Hughes ( Modern Poetry)

 

Modern Literature ( Modern Poetry)

That Morning by Ted Hughes

Short Summary & Critical Analysis:

Ted Hughes was junior of Ezra pound and was inspired by him. He did experimentation with the poetic structure throughout the poem. The lines are not regular, there is no rhyme scheme, no regular rhythm but still the poem is rhythmical. The poem is written by famous modern poet so we see modernist writing in his poetry. 

One morning the poet goes to a river side with his son. In this poem he describes the experience he had that morning. The poet shows us two worlds in juxtaposition. First one is the world of salmon where there is fullness and abundance. It is peaceful and harmonious. Then there is our world, human world, the world that is sinking because of the negative destructive activities. Our world is dark and destructive.

In the third stanza poet tells us that he and his son are standing on the river side where there is green pollen light. The kind of greenness that is visible in the river. The wild salmons are slaying and they are watching them. These salmons are a work of God and they are experiencing complete harmony. After the full stop at the end of this line, “as from the hand of God.”, we see a strange experience.

There the body separated,… This is Hindu concept as Hindus believed that Yogi Priests, Brahman etc. can split into their physical body and soul, thus soul can be liberated from the body. Doubting thought is our skeptical mind which is always busy in the idea of to be or not to be. Just for the further clarification, I think therefore I am , it denotes rationalism. I doubt therefore I exist, is a tagline of skepticism.

Here the phenomenon that has occurred is the separation between physical body and soul. This shows the power of salmons and now the poet has made them a thing of beauty like the Urn and Nightingale was for Keats in his poems Ode on a Grecian Urn and Ode to a Nightingale respectively. Spirit beacon is a lasting experience for poet and salmon is a source of inspiration, a divine sign for him.

Similarly in Kubla khan by T. S. Coleridge, the poet tries to imagine a world where could be divine being but here for Ted Hughes, salmons become the divine inspiration, and makes it possible for the poet to separate  the soul from the body.

In fifth stanza, Dazzle of blessing is a reference to time beyond time, when there was actually no time. For example, when Adam and Ee were not fallen from paradise, there was timelessness and eternity. He refers to Illud Tempus (pre-fall times) i.e. Time without time. When there was no imprisonment of the physical world.

Then comes the pause, he has this fear that one dark thought might disappear the whole experience. Here he is swaying between two worlds. Immortality lies with the salmon and this world is perishable. Mountains are personified as if they are tingling atoms. Water is moving so tingling atoms that are small particles of light are showing light. This is a pictorial image that poet is trying to make. Till now the experience is complete and beautiful.

Then comes a new entity there. Two gold bears came and swam like men and dived like children. The poet and son are having company while 2 gold bears come. They are some divine beings fascinated by animals. Supreme beings are personified as gold bears and they are here to keep company with the poet and his son. These bears are the supreme beings or kings that are eating salmons. In the previous stanzas, salmon was divine inspiration but here it is only fish and he is celebrating.

This is like an hour experience where there is energy and force. We may call it violence but for poet it is experience of extreme energy, enjoyment and epiphany(certain realization). For him it is not negative, it’s not the only harmony he enjoys. The tearing of salmons is the energy he is fascinated with. Then he finally says that they have found their journey, what they have been destined for. Repetition tells us their lasting experience as they have found their world of creatures of light and we see a kind of richness in the whole experience.

(If you read the poem The Gulkana you would realize that it is a very philosophical poem. That Morning is a simple version of The Gulkana.)